The last few years have seen a new generation of alternative publications and editorial talent emerge, and London is very much a part of the scene. This month saw the release of the fourth issue of P.E.A.R. (Paper for Emerging Architectural Research). Printed on newspaper stock, this zine (included in “Archizines,” a show I curated at the Architectural Association School of Architecture) was started by the editorial collective of Rashid Ali, Matthew Butcher, Julian Krueger and Megan O’Shea, with the designer Avni Patel, in 2009. A few issues in, they have really hit their stride. “The paper aims to re-establish the fanzine as a primary medium for the dissemination of architectural ideas, musings, research and works, and to present the complexity and variety of architectural practice,” O’Shea explains. “We actively seek to publish thinking that wouldn’t ordinarily be seen in the mainstream architectural press, and we are interested in showing that the architectural is concerned with more than just architecture.”

Accordingly, they asked a variety of architects, artists, academics and writers to contribute texts and images relating to notions of dwelling, both as a physical and psychological space. The paper also sometimes comes alive through curated events. “While the paper is concerned with the relationship between architecture and publishing, and particularly with making tangible conceptual architecture, the events are more about thinking through performance,” O’Shea adds. “They activate the research and put the research into action.”

DuffyThe first two issues of Block Magazine.

Tom KeeleyA photograph from “America Deserta Revisited: Detroit.”

Another recent arrival is Block, a magazine for new writing (“review, reflection, story, poem or polemic”) about architecture and the city. It was founded last year by the former head of exhibitions at the Royal Institute of British Architects, Rob Wilson, with the architect Ed Wilson and the designers Ellie and Katya Duffy. “The launch issue felt like a statement of intent for the magazine as a whole, establishing an initial marker for its content, structure, format and feel,” Rob Wilson says. The second issue, which is out now, looks at the idea of facade, with contributions from the architects Alejandro Zaera-Polo, Foster + Partners, and Sam Jacob, and the artist Pablo Bronstein.

More routed in fanzine culture is America Deserta Revisited, the latest project from the London-based artist Tom Keeley. Keeley was the co-founder of the cult Sheffield fanzine Go, which was published from 2004 to 2008, and his new five-part publishing venture is the result of a trip by train across the United States. “America Deserta Revisited is a series of urban guidebooks to the soul, rather than the sights, of a place,” he explains. Print is proving a lively place for architectural criticism and commentary. Long may it continue.